Triston

Do birds care what color

bird seed you give them?

Introduction

I chose this question because I didn't really have an idea so I searched around google and saw that someone did this and I thought it was cool..

Question:

• Do birds prefer different color birdseed over other colors?

Hypothesis

• I think the birds will prefer some colors over other colors.. Especially the colors more appealing and look closer to the color of their mates..

Research Summary

Get a bird feeder, does really matter what size and type they are, using a very light in color bird seed. Pour seed into a bowl and adding food coloring mix it up to the point where the seed is the color of the food dye. Every 2 days switch the color of seed to another color, starting with normal at the beginning.

Materials

Food coloring

Unblended sunflower seeds

A bird feeder

Procedure/Methods:

Start off by soaking the seeds in dyed water (Red & blue) this process usually takes about 1-3 hours. After that, pour the seeds into a cooking strainer to let excess water out. Get a baking pan and spread aluminium foil across it, pour the seeds on the foil. Let air dry but if its still pretty wet after an hour or 2 blow dry is occasionally to speed up the process. Once dry pour seeds into bird feeder. Then wait.

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Variables

Independent: Amount of bird seed

Dependent: Number of birds

Controlled: Color of the seed

Results:

Days Watched		Colors	Initial Amount		Seed Eaten		Seed Left
2 Days		Plain/Original	14.5"		2.8"		11.7"
2 Days		Blue	8.5"		2"		5.5"
2 Days		Red	8"		1.3"		6.7"

For each color I would keep track of it for 2 days, recording the starting amount then how much was eaten/what was left.. The seeds eaten would go down every time, meaning they probably prefer the plain over the colors and the blue over red but more colors and research would probably make it more clear..

Discussion:

This experiment is about whether birds actually have a favorite color food/if they're picky eaters or not or, overall just don't really don't care. The hypothesis didn't really relate to my experiment entirely, because at first I was going to count all the birds and what type they were when they came to the feeder. But soon the question kind of shifted to just how much they ate and what was gone. There were overall a good chunk of problems with the experiment.

Complications:

1. Bird seed could've fallen out from when birds landed on it and it shook, but was counted as eaten..
2. They didn't usually notice the bird feeder and seed until the 2nd day.
3. The bird feeder was pretty dirty so it was hard to see the color when it was in there.
4. There's a possibility the dye could have a flavor.
5. It changed textures and got more stick and wet so it might now have been as appealing.
6. Birds have more color receptors so the bird seed might not even look the same to us compared to them..
7. Pixel would run up under the feeder when birds were there to scare them, so they might be less inclined to come.

Resources:

"Tube Bird Feeders." Tube Bird Feeders. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.


"Are Birds Color Blind?" Ask. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.




"Do Birds Care What Color Their Food Is? - ScienceBob.com."ScienceBobcom. N.p., 14 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.